Love of the World

This definitive book brings together all the surviving non-fiction of John McGahern, whose work has entered the canon of modern prose. While nearly all of McGahern's creative energy went into his novels and stories, his non-fiction writings are of interest to anyone who cares about his work, and to all those interested in the recent history of Ireland and its culture. These writings were many and varied: reviews, essays, speeches and interviews. He rarely reviewed books, but when he did so - often in laconic ways - his insights were profound. On rare occasions, he would make a lucid and farsighted public intervention on large issues that concerned him: sectarianism, women's rights, the power of the church in Ireland. And fiercely discriminating as he was, he delighted in recommending the work of neglected or forgotten writers, such as the American novelist John Williams or the Canadian short story writer Alistair MacLeod. His discussions of Irish writers who influenced him are generous, brilliant and substantial - among them Michael McLaverty, Ernie O'Malley and Forrest Reid. In many of these essays, McGahern's canon of great writers - Tolstoy, Chekhov, James, Proust and Joyce - is cited many times, with deep and subtle appreciation. Here too is McGahern's account of the life and work of John Butler Yeats, an acute and moving rediscovery of the poet's father. 'Love of the World' also contains surprises like the pieces he wrote on his travels (to Morocco, Paris and the Newcastle Hippodrome), and haunting descriptions of his native Leitrim and the tense border region between Ireland North and South. The book enriches our understanding of one of the finest writers Ireland has given the world in the last century.